The best part about staying in Jinghong is that it is surrounded by many villages of various minority peoples.  The ideal time for extended exploration of the villages is spring and fall, because it is simply too warm, humid, and rainy during the summer.  So a minibus tour turned out to be the next best way to see the surroundings this day; despite its many stops at gift shops, some unintended good sites could be found along the way.  I discovered this unusual temple roof, with peacocks painted on it, down the road from one of the gift shops.

This trip was to the south and east of Jinghong, to a tropical plant garden in Menglun, where the following pictures of unusual flowers were taken.

Besides the magnificent color, notice the incredibly long stamen emerging from the center of these blossoms.

The garden had many varieties of unusual plants and trees, including some that were deadly poisonous to the touch.  Much safer to stay near palm trees like this one.

A stop later in the day visited a new Dai theme park, something totally unexpected in the middle of such a rural area.  Here, a traditional Dai water sprinkling ceremony takes place, with park employees and visitors throwing buckets of water at each other.  The park displays were nice, but nothing exciting; most of the entertainment involved cultural dance and musical performances.  But one performance was particularly memorable, for its shear audacity:  A Dai matrimonial ceremony was performed on stage, with brides coming out to the audience to choose their mates.  Once onstage, the chosen men were told by the announcer to make an offering to the brides of at least 100 yuan - a fairly sizeable sum in China - to show their “love” for their brides.  Clearly, most of the men were expecting their money back at the end of the performance, but the announcer embarrassed them, saying they didn’t truly love their brides and causing them to lose face.  As a result, many of the men lost their 100 yuan, lest they be ridiculed for taking their money back from the women.

Walking outside the park, I discovered this unusually nice and well-maintained Dai house nearby.  As it turns out, it belonged to the family that had owned the land where the theme park was built; the huge sum of money they made selling the land allowed them to build the house.

The lady of the house was kind enough to invite visitors in for tea, allowing me to photograph the interior.  Dai houses are very spacious and open; only the bedroom is closed off - it is never polite to look into or photograph the bedroom of a private home in rural Chinese villages.  This particular house was unusually well furnished with electronics and nice furniture, indicating the wealth of the family.

The woman’s shy son hid from visitors, but did talk a little and allowed me to take his picture.  Visiting this house turned out to be the highlight of the day, and it wasn’t even a part of the theme park or the official tour.